More darkness

 The northern sky brightness last night was 21.68 mpsas.  This is nicely dark.  There was some wildfire smoke in the air, but it did not seem to have a significant effect on transparency.

The following images were obtained with a Sigma 56mm f/1.4 lens, some with a Hoya Softon diffusion filter, some without.

 

The constellation Delphinus. Softon filter.

Delphinus is currently high in the sky in the late evening.

constellation Corona Australis. Softon filter.

 The constellation Corona Australis is low near the southern horizon.  The dark shadow in the lower left of the image is the ridgeline of Snowshoe Mountain.

 

The Milky way in Scutum.  Softon filter.

The Milky Way in Scutum.  No filter.

Southern Scorpius.  No filter.

This view of the southern part of Scorpius shows two open star clusters (M7 and M6) and two emission nebulas (NGC 6334 and NGC 6357).

A closer look at M7 and M6:

M7 (LL) and M6 (UR)

 The asteroid (8) Flora is making a close pass near the star Ross 154.  Ross 154 is the seventh nearest star system, and Flora is the nearest large main-belt asteroid (about 145 km across).  The following two images were obtained on Monday and Wednesday and show the progress of Flora relative to Ross 154.

Monday night.  Ross 154 (red circle), (8) Flora (turquoise circle).

 

Wednesday night.

An exceptionally dark night

 Last night astronomical twilight ended near 10 pm and the Moon did not rise for another 45 min.  Between those two times the sky was exceptionally dark.  The SQML meter pointed at the northern sky above Polaris measured 21.84 mpsas.  It rarely gets darker than that.  Even better, none of the neighbors had porch lights blazing.

Two lenses were used: a 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 fish-eye for wide views of the Milky Way and a Sigma 56mm f/1.4 for narrower views. 

 

In the middle image above some small puffy clouds were lingering near the zenith.  In the bottom picture the Andromeda Galaxy appears just over the cabin roof.  Some faint green airglow is visible along the northern horizon.

 

The section of Sagittarius displayed above was captured with the 56mm lens and a Hoya Softon filter.  The circle just above center marks the location of the asteroid (8) Flora and the star Ross 154.

Here is a closer look:

Ross 154 (solid red circle), asteroid  (8) Flora (dotted turquoise circle)

 The asteroid (8) Flora was discovered in 1847 and is the closest large main-belt asteroid.  It is currently at magnitude 9.7 and 10.7 light-minutes distant. 

Ross 154 is a magnitude-10.4 red dwarf that is the 7th closest star system at a distance of 9.7 ly.

On the right-hand side of this image is the globular cluster M22, which is 10,000 ly distant.

Region in Sagittarius just above the Milky Way core.

 

A brief look at the Milky Way

 The Milky Way has lately been mostly obscured by the bright Moon and cloudy nights.  Last night there was a brief interval between the clouds dissipating and the rising of the waning Buck Moon.  This image was obtained with a 7Artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 fish-eye lens.  Moonrise occurred about 20 minutes earlier, but the Moon was still well hidden behind Snowshoe Mountain.   The sky, however, was already turning blue with scattered moonlight.

 

A solar storm hit the Earth the same day, but there were no auroras visible from Creede at the time (10:45 pm) this photo was taken.  Here is a photo of the Sun taken earlier in the day:

02 Aug.  Apertura 60mm ED f/6 refractor

 

Buck Moon rising

Until the Moon rises, Venus is still the brightest object in the night sky.  It shines brightly at magnitude -4.1 in the west during twilight.

Venus setting over Bristol Head

 The full moon of July, which occurred yesterday, is known in some cultures as the "Buck Moon". The following images were obtained with a 60mm f/6 refractor and a 1.5x MDB (Magic Dakin Barlow).

Full Buck Moon rising over Snowshoe Mountain

 Thin clouds created a corona around the rising moon.

 

Moony Milky Way

 Early Tuesday evening the 8.0-day Moon was visible through slight haze.

 Near midnight the Moon was setting behind the Bristol Head ridgeline while wrapped in clouds.  There was mostly clear sky in the opposite direction, but it was still glowing blue with scattered moonlight.

Milky Way and Summer Triangle

 

Pegasus rising, with the Andromeda Galaxy (circled)

These last two images were obtained with a Panasonic Leica 9mm f/1.7 lens + Hoya Sparkle-6 optical filter.  A digital 3x3 median filter was applied in postprocessing.

The Moon is back

 Lots of rain and cloudy weather lately—given the ongoing drought, that's a good thing.  There was a brief view of the waxing crescent Moon and Venus during Saturday-evening twilight.  Near midnight, the sky was clouded over.

5.1-day Moon and Venus, 18 July.

 Sunday evening was a lot clearer early on, but it was still mostly cloudy again near midnight.

6.1-day Moon, 19 July

 The image above was obtained with an Apertura 60mmED f/6 refractor.  A 1.5x Magic Dakin Barlow (yes, that's what it is called) was installed near the flange of the Olympus E-M5iii camera to give an effective focal length of 555 mm (1.54 magnification).

Smoky nights

 There are currently a number of large wildfires burning in Colorado.  The smoke density here in Creede varies from day to day depending on wind direction.  Thursday night was clear but with some light smoke in the air.  Outside lights blazing on some neighborhood cabins presented a challenge because of the scattered light in the smoky air.  The views toward the northeast and overhead were the best options for astrophotography.  

In spite of the challenging conditions, this was an opportunity to test an old equatorial mount (purchased in 2019) as a star tracker for wide-field photography.  The mount is identical (I believe) to an Orion EQ-1 mount.  It came as part of a package sold by Celestron as the Powerseeker 60EQ.  The package included the mount and a 60mm f/15 optical tube and accessories.  I had been considering buying the mount separately from Orion for a retail price somewhere above $100 (I don't recall the exact amount).  However, the Celestron package from Amazon was only $73!  So I got the same mount PLUS a telescope for $30-40 cheaper than the mount by itself.  Orion is now defunct.  The Powerseeker 60EQ package is still listed on the Celestron web site, but I can't see it offered for sale anywhere.  However, there is a Powerseeker 70EQ package that appears to have the same mount, with a larger optical tube and a much larger price tag.

The camera for these tests was an OM-5ii + Panasonic Leica 15mm f/1.7 lens.  The mount was driven by a motor that had been purchased many years earlier for use with an Orion mini-EQ tabletop mount.

The sky brightness was measured as 21.60 (pointing away from the neighbor's lights), and the transparency was good in spite of the smoke.  I could easily see 7+ stars in the Little Dipper. 

The Summer Triangle: Deneb, Vega, Altair

 

Arcturus (bottom) and Corona Borealis (above center)

 Arcturus is the brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere and the fourth brightest star overall.  The constellation Corona Borealis is the location of the "Blaze Star", a recurrent nova that is expected to erupt sometime soon, based on previous cycles.  When it does it will probably be similar in brightness to Alphecca, the current brightest star in Corona Borealis.  The cropped image below shows the location of the nova (T Coronae Borealis or T CrB), which is currently a dim magnitude 10, and Alphecca.

 

T CrB is circled.  Arcturus is at the bottom of the frame.

The mount and camera